Ellie & Jake: Troubled Waters
by Matt.Burton
Summary: An inside look into the home life of Ellie Bishop who appears to be the only character with a drama and tragedy free relationship, but there is more to her marriage to AFOSI special agent Jake Bishop than meets the eye. I would the Ellie/Jake stories to become a regular staple, pending what my readers think. As always, comments/constructive criticism are warmly welcomed! Cheers! :)


Exhausted from another long night filled with paperwork instead of actual field work Ellie Bishop entered her apartment complex's elevator and lightly compressed the clear plastic circle adorned with a black _3_. Collapsing to one side of the elevator, her back still turned to the doors as they closed with a thud, Ellie felt her eyelids droop over her eyes before the red indicator light surrounding the floor number had time to flicker on. The dimly lit elevator's short circuiting lighting flicked in and out sporadically as Ellie crossed her arms crossed her chest and began to drift into dreamland. Having been accepted to train as an agent only a month ago Ellie had moments where she wondered if she had bitten off more than she could chew upon transitioning from the NSA to NCIS.

The larger workload that included field investigation had grown exponentially from her routine at the National Security Agency that often involved little more than settling into one of her obscure locations within the NSA headquarters with her Macbook and a mess of files surrounding her strategically. Then there was her FLETC training to consider when she was not on the job with Gibbs' team at the Navy Yard. The brain work, such as analyzing crime scenes and interviewing suspects, was not of concern to her however she was less inclined when presented with the physical training and especially any firearms training. When asked how she performed in such courses her response was often limited to, "I passed", albeit not with flying colours.

Although not a cause of physical exertion Ellie had come to learn that there was far more stress than one would expect that accompanied carrying a loaded 9mm handgun at ones hip at a near 24/7 schedule. It was a responsibility that came with being a law enforcement officer and while she had been trained as an analyst to handle a gun she had never had the need to wear one in the field. Not only was carrying a weapon a responsibility Ellie found herself also of the opinion that she was now a walking target when ever she left her home or the Navy Yard.

Between the physical and mental strains that came with her new career with the Navy's major case response team Ellie, on this particular very early morning, found the transition especially daunting. She had not realized just how tired she was until the elevator ascended to the second floor of her apartment building and one of her neighbours entered to find her slumped into a back corner of the elevator.

Edna Craston lived directly below the Bishops and had come to be a maternal figure to the couple when they moved into the complex three years ago. She was the personification of the little old lady from her silver brimmed glasses tethered to her neck by a string to a hand woven sweater wrapped around a flowering dress that draped over her support hose and orthopedic shoes. Reaching out to the young woman Ms Cranston gently grasped and shook Ellie's right shoulder, prodding her to awake. "Eleanore," she squeaked in a hushed, laboured voice. "Wake up, sweety."

Ellie's body jerked slightly and as she awoke she found herself positioned with her back up against one of the elevator walls staring down at Ms Cranston. It took Ellie a few seconds to become reacquainted with her surroundings and another moment to remember how she had come to awake in an elevator instead of her bed or, as any probie could relate, at her desk in the NCIS squad room.

Reaching into her wicker purse similar to that often carried by the character of Sophia Petrillo on a loved TV sitcom, Ms Cranston pulled out a stiff, used Kleenex and applied it to the corner of Ellie Bishop's mouth. "You're drooling, dear." She attempted to wipe away the spit, applying a little dampness of her own with her tongue, but Ellie gently side stepped as the elevator doors opened at the third floor.

"Thank you," Ellie acknowledged the grandmotherly act with genuine appreciation before exiting the elevator and wiping away what remained of her unfortunate drool with the sleeve of her coat. She shook her head to break through what haze remained from her impromptu nap and retrieved her keys from her shoulder bag. 0330 was not the ideal time to be returning home. It was best spent in bed, sleeping or otherwise occupied in the bedroom.

Jacob Bishop, universally known as Jake as far as friends, coworkers and family with the exception of his mom were concerned, laid back with his back and head supported by pillows as he eased and out of sleep. A check of his government issued Q10 revealed no texts since his wife had replied that she would be held up at the Navy Yard for a couple more hours. It had been sent at midnight and as he illuminated his screen again, he saw that his wife was over an hour late. With traffic light at its worst at that time on a Monday evening Jake began to redial the number filed under "Babe 3" just as his ears registered the lock turning on the apartment door followed by several beeps of the security panels keypad. Slipping out of bed Jake pulled on a plain white pair of CK trunks and made his way out into the communal areas of his apartment.

While attempting to be as quiet as she could Ellie closed the cover to the security panel and crept her way towards the kitchen for a glass of milk. She laid her bag, keys and phone atop the bar style marble counter as quietly as she could, rounding the surface space that separated her kitchen from the modest sized living area. In her zombie-like state she failed to notice her husband standing in the doorway to her right that broke off into two directions, their bathroom to the left and their master bedroom to the right. For the second time in as many minutes she found herself flinching, jumping even as Jake's practically naked figure was caught in the corner of her eye as she lifted her head above the open refrigerator door.

"Did I wake you?" Ellie asked, drinking straight from the two liter carton as they met midway between the kitchen and archway, Jake wrapping his arms around her waist. As the carton moved out of the way Jake brushed off the faint milk-stache from Ellie's upper lip and offered a gentle kiss to her lips which she gladly accepted.

"Haven't really slept," Jake admitted, his dark brown hair disheveled courtesy of his pillow and his speech slightly inhibited by his grogginess. In truth he had weaved in and out of a light sleep since receiving Ellie's text, his heightened awareness not allowing him to receive proper rest and respite until he knew fore sure that his loved one was safely at home.

"I'm sorry," Ellie offered, standing to her tip toes and barely reaching the natural height of her husbands lips to return the romantic gesture to his right cheek. "Tony flattened me with another inventory request, inspecting the office supply room," she said with a sarcastic sense of excitement. "Every individual paper clip, every pen, every staple." As Jake attempted to embrace her tighter and offer a sympathetic sigh to her ongoing hazing at the hands of Agents Tony DiNozzo and Tim McGee Ellie slipped out of his arms. While they often provided a safe haven of warmth and compassion a sixth sense told Ellie that, at this point in the early morning, what she was actually receiving was condescension and a token peck on the lips courtesy of the dutiful husband.

"What is it now?" Jake groaned while trying to maintain his fast slipping supportive facade. With a leg crossed over the other he leaned up against the lower section of counter near the sink and crossed his perfectly fuzzy yet not overly hairy forearms across a toned but not over developed chest.

"You're doing it again," Ellie accused, the fridge door supporting her weight as she took another mouthful of milk before slipping it back onto the top shelf.

"The carton's empty," Jake slid off track, the agitation triggering him to readjust his arms and shift his broad shoulders slightly to one side.

Hauling the door back open Ellie retrieved the carton and moved to the set of doors beneath the sink to dispose of the container, meanwhile noting to her partner, "You're not saying what's on your mind." As she pulled a half devoured bag of milk chocolate chips from the top cupboard beside the fridge she ranted further. "Now the shrink said we both have to share our honest, real thoughts when the other asks. Yes, our jobs are stressful but we..."

"Fine," Jake abruptly cut in, throwing his hands in front of him to mute Ellie's repetition of the speech they had received from their marriage counselor the week prior. "You know I worry about you," he submitted, unguarded as he placed a hand on either side of his body and laid them on the edge of the counter for support, leaving himself physically vulnerable to symbolize his unguarded emotions. "A short text would have let me know that you were running late instead of you letting me lie awake in the middle of night wondering why you're not home or why you haven't called to tell me your plans have changed."

"I'm sorry I can't be the career agent that you are, perfectly honed skills and an internal clock that keeps my schedule as prompt as the rising and setting of the sun," Ellie replied defensively, popping chocolate chips into her mouth like pills.

"That reminds me, what route did you take when you drove home tonight?" Jake asked. "You didn't drive down the boulevard again did you? You've used that route twice this week."

Turning away from her husband Ellie took a deep breath and shoved the bag back into the cupboard before slamming a palm on the counter. "Yes, I took the boulevard," she confessed slowly, emphasizing each syllable as she found her routine scrutinized, herself interrogated like a common thief. "There were only two cars on that road tonight. No one knew I was going to be getting out of the yard this late at night."

Shaking his head in disbelief Jake then dropped his head in disappointment. "That's exactly the kind of thinking that is going to get you killed, Elle," he scolded with the use of his pet name for Ellie, albeit still talking down to her as if she were a first grader. "If a terrorist knows where you work, and you make enough enemies, they will monitor your route for hours, for days if it means they have the best shot of kidnapping your or worse. You're an agent now!"

"Dammit, Jake!" Ellie replied in kind as the severity of their tones increased in harmony. "You've been a special agent with OSI for eight years, and before that you were on active duty in Iraq. I've had less than one month to get use to this. Give me some space!"

"That supervisor of yours will tell you the same thing," Jake persisted, the rumbling of his phones vibrations on his night table beckoning him to answer from the bedroom.

"I suppose that's your supervisor, calling you into the field again before you're due at Andrews," Ellie sighed with an eye roll, shoving a mess of hair behind her left ear as she followed Jake into the master bedroom. "When I was at the NSA I never left you at three in the morning to go off God only knows where."

"And you should have stayed there," Jake mumbled under his breath as he read down through a message sent from the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations branch located inside Andrews Air Force Base. Flicking on his lamp he began an uncoordinated search for the slacks, socks and light blue dress shirt he had worn while on the job the previous day, gathering them all into a bundle in his left arm as his right entered the seven digit access key to the couples shared gun safe atop Ellie's dresser. "Grab that for me, would you, babe?" he said with a finger pointed at the safe, speaking as if their previous altercation had not taken place as they headed into the bathroom. "And my shield and creds."

"What is it now?" Ellie asked, her mind manifesting a number of low priority reasons that had been used for summoning her husband to Andrews earlier than necessary in the past. "Pigeon drunk and disorderly and the MPs have forgotten how to do the paperwork again?"

"Missing raptor pilot," Jake told her, shoving his shirt into his pants and tightening the belt before holstering his P228 at his right hip and clipping his AFOSI shield onto his belt beside his weapon. "Suppose to be testing new avionics tomorrow and if we don't find him, they'll have to scrub the test and consider the technology compromised until we do."

"Anything I can do? Access his home computer or something?" Ellie offered as she helped Jake on with his blazer.

"Can't have you doing that now, Elle," Jake refused, stealing a peck on her cheek before holstering his Blackberry and doing a quick check of his crudely restyled hair in the bathroom mirror. "You're with the cowboys now." As they walked towards the door together Jake stole another kiss, this one from Ellie's lips. "Brad's going to be curbside in five. Get some sleep. I love you," he forced out before disarming the security system and sprinting out the door.

Left to fend for herself Ellie rearmed the system and casually walked back to the kitchen where she believed a more complex midnight snack was in order. Reaching into the fridge for the the previous evenings left over fajitas her snacking was interrupted by the ring of her home phone at the inside of the kitchen counter, just under her window providing a clear view of the stars dancing off the surface of the Anacostia. "Hello," she answered into the cordless.

"Probie, grab your gear and meet us at Norfolk on board the Cowpens. Petty officer took a swan dive off the tail end of the ship."

"On my way, Tony," Ellie replied with a yawn, returning her plate to the fridges shelving.

"Was that a yawn?" DiNozzo teased. "You can sleep next month if you're lucky."

Without the desire to humour DiNozzo's playful remarks that had she had come to recognize as affectionate Ellie returned the phone to its dock, ending the call in a manner similar to Gibbs' abrupt hang ups. Grabbing her bag, phone and keys again Ellie headed towards the door, secretly hoping to grab one more kiss from her soul mate before they embarked on their own job assignments, either of which could prove to bring their marriage to a deadly finale. Even amongst the turmoil of their careers and their sometimes troubled marriage one thing was certain, she still loved Jake and that would not change for anything.


End file.
